Lawn mower



J. A. WALLER Dec. 8, 1936.

LAWN MOWER Filed Dec. 17, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTUR EMA; Walk By M7 i1 rmR N VJ Dec. 8, 1936. J A. WALLER 2,063,068

LAWN MOWER Filed Dec. 17, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 11v VENTUR J57m A.Wazlefl,

A TTOR/VE y:

Patented Dec. 8, 1936 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LAWN MOWER John A.Waller, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Application December 1'7, 1934, Serial No. 757,740

7 Claims. (Cl. 56-252) This invention relates to a device for cuttingFig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on grass, lawn and the like,and particularly to an line 33 in Fig. 1, showing the folded positionimproved form of lawn mower device provided of the handle means. with anadvantageous form of handle means and Referring to the drawings, thedevice may comhandle mounting means which provides for uniprise asupporting structure generally designated 5 form cutting operation ofthe device under varyby the numeral i comprising side members la ingoperating conditions. and lb and a transverse tie rod Ic. The mem- Thedevice of the present invention may combers la and lb are providedadjacent their rearprise in general a rotatable cutting element wardends with a boss 2 through which a shaft mounted at the forward end of asuitable sup- 3 may exte d. Carrying the riving wheels 4 and 10 portingstructure and provided with operative ii, suitable set collars 6 beingprovided to locate engagement with a pair of driving wheels located saidshaft transversely. The right-hand wheel rearwardly thereof, and aspring-biased handle i may be positively secured to the shaft 3 andmeans pivotally mounted on said supporting strucsuitable ratchet meansmay be provided within ture adjacent and below the axis of rotation thehub of the wheel 5 and its driving gear 1, 5

of said driving wheels and extending rearwardly according toconventional practice, to provide in position to be grasped by a personstanding for driving the associated gear train 8 and the erect. Thepivotal mounting of said handle means rotatable cutter 9 on movement ofthe mower is preferably of such nature that said handle forwardly, whiledisengaging said gear train upon 0 means may be folded forwardly andbrought to movement of the mower rearwardly. The cutter rest against thesupporting structure at the for- 9 is rotatably mounted in suitablebearings H ward end of the device and secured thereto. provided on theside frame members la. .and lb,

One of the principal objects of the invention and substantially directlybelow the axis of said is to provide a lawn mower having a springcutter9 I provide a rearwardly extending sta- 5 biased driving handlepivotally mounted to the tionary cutter !2 provided with a backing platelawn mower in such position that during the i3 suitably secured to theside frame members. operation of said mower the forward end there-Rearwardly of the fixed cutter H, I provide a of which carries therotatable cutter element is suitable roller i5 rotatably mounted on thesupbiased resiliently upwardly. porting structure as at It. A suitablecover or A further object of the invention is to provide the like ll maybe provided exteriorly of the 30 a handle means associated with a lawnmower gear train 8 to protect the same from damage supporting structurewhich may be folded out of and maintain the same in place, and may beoperating position whereby the lawn mower may suitably secured to thesupporting structure. be caused to encompass a minimum Space and Thehandle means may comprise a cross member th be conveniently stored. 2!adapted to be grasped in the hands of a person 35 A further object ofthe invention is to provide operating the device, a shaft portion 22 anda ahandle means foralawn mower which is springbifurcated portion 23having end portions 23a biased to effect a lightening of the forward endof and 23b extending interiorly of th id fra e said mower in such mannerthat substantially members la and lb and pivotally attached as at thesame degree of spring-biasing is obtained in- 24 to arms 25a and 25bpivotally secured to the 40 dependent of the angular position of thehandle side frame members la and lb, the portions 23a means due to itsbeing grasped by persons of difand 231) being provided with lugs members26 ferent height. at their lower ends and the arms 25a, and

Other objects of the invention will be brought 25?) being provided withstop means 21 in posi- 5 out in the following description of a preferredtion to be engaged by said lug means 26 after the embodiment of thedevice, or will be apparent manner shown in Fig. 2 when the handle meansth refr m is in operative position. The pivotal mounting Theaccompanying drawings show the device of of the arms 25a and 25b to theside frame memthe present invention and referring thereto: hers is madeat a point 28 rearwardly and down- Fig 1 is a plan view of the deviceshowing the wardly disposed with respect to the axis of the 50 operatingand folding positions of the handle driving Wheels as defined by thShaft 3. The means; arms 25a. and 25b extend forwardly of the piv- Fig,2 i partly sectional view thereof taken otal mounting 28 and terminatein lug portions on li e 2-2 in Fig. 1 and illustrating the action 29adapted to receive one end of U-shaped spring and mounting of tspring-biasing means; and members 3| secured to the side frame members55 as at 32, the attachment of the springs 3| to the frame members beingeasily obtained by passing one end thereof through a slot 33 in saidframe members, as shown in Fig. 3. Suitable stop means are provided asat 29a on the side frame members for engaging the lugs 29 to limit theforward rotation of the arms 25a and 2512.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the handle means may be moved from theposition shown in full lines to a position such as shown in dot-dashlines during operation of the device, dependent upon the position theoperator chooses to hold the cross member 2|, and the presentlydescribed spring means 3| is preferably so mounted that substantiallythe same degree of upward biasing of the forward portion 34 of the lawnmower will be obtained in any angular position of the handle meansduring operation of the device, the said spring means is so mounted thatas the handle means and its associated arm is moved from the full lineposition to the dot-dash line, pressing the said spring 3| from its fullline position to its dot-dash line position, the angle of application ofthe compressive force of said spring on said arms is altered inproportion to the increase in compression of said spring whereby theresultant effect or turning moment on said arms is maintainedsubstantially equivalent.

The springs 3| are of such strength as to obtain a degreeof upwardbiasing of the cutter and of the mower dependent upon the service towhich the mower is to be put. I have found, when employing proportionssubstantially those shown in the drawings, that for ordinary lawn usesaid springs should exert a lifting effect upon the cutter such as toproduce an apparent weight of about two pounds to the front of themower. Due to the pivots 28 for the handle means being placed downwardlyand rearwardly of the axle 3, the

force applied to the handle in driving the mower over the area to be cutis partly divided into a forward horizontal force and a downward forcetending to cause a suitable driving engagement between the cut surfaceand the driving wheels. If an area of diflicultly cut grass isencountered,

more force will have to be exerted at the handle handle the more thecutter portion of the mower is forced against the lawn, causing, due tovariations in the applied force, the grass to be out quite short undersome conditions and less short under others. With the use of the presentapparatus the tendency for the cutter to dig in when the going is hardis counter-balanced by the application of the downward component ofdriving force at a point rearwardly and downwardly from the axis of thedriving wheels, about which the mower frame is pivotally mounted.

When the handle means is folded forwardly about the pivot 24 it may becaused to rest on the transverse member |c as shown in Fig. 3, and Ipreferably provide a pivotally mounted catch member 4| provided with aprojecting portion 42 and a wing portion 43 which may be rotated tocause the portion 42 to engage the under side of the member lo and thusposition the handle means in folded relation to the mower, either byfolding the handle forwardly or by folding the mower rearwardly towardthe handle. The mower may then be pushed about, rotating the wheels inrearward direction in which case the rotatable cutter 9 will not beoperated, and may be leaned against a wall or the like in some suchposition as indicated by the dot-dash outline F in Fig. 3, in whichposition it will be seen that the lawn mower occupies a comparativesmall floor space as compared to the conventional lawn mower.

This application is filed as a continuation-inpart of my co-pendingapplication, Serial Number 630,831, filed August 29, 1932.

I claim:

1. In a lawn mower provided with a transversely extending axle memberdefining an axis, driving wheels mounted on the respective ends of saidaxle member and rotatable about said axis, a supporting structuremounted on said axle member for pivotal movement about said axis andhaving a portion extending forwardly of said axis, cooperating fixed androtatable cutter means mounted on said supporting structure andextending transversely there-acr0ss at the forward end thereof, a handlestructure which comprises: handle means pivotally mounted on saidsupporting structure adjacent but downwardly and rearwardly of said axisand extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom, and spring means havingone end secured to said supporting structure at a point removed fromsaid axis and having its other end resiliently engaging said handlemeans, said spring means being positioned to bias the forward end ofsaid supporting structure including said fixed and rotatable cuttermeans upwardly about said axis upon movement of the rearwardly extendingportion of said handle means in a downward direction.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1, said handle meanscomprising alower portion pivotally mounted on said supporting structure and anupper portion pivotally connected to said lower portion at a positionupwardly and rearwardly removed from the point of pivotal mounting ofsaid lower portion, said upper portion being movable forwardly of thedevice about such pivotal connection into engagement with the forwardportion of said mower in folded position.

3. The invention set forth in claim 1, said spring means being sopositioned with respect to said common axis and the point of pivotalmounting of said handle means on said structure that the turning momentof said spring means on the forward end of said structure is maintainedsubstantially equivalent in all angular positions of said handle means.

said rotatable cutting member and in engage-.

ment therewith and means operatively associating said rotatable cuttingmember with said driving wheels, a handle structure which comprises:handle means pivotally mounted on said supporting structure at aposition rearwardly and:

downwardly removed from said axis and having a portion extendingupwardly and rearwardly therefrom, spring means mounted on saidsupporting structure at a position removed from said axis, resilientlyengaging said handle means and operable to bias the forward end of saidsupporting structure upwardly about said axis upon pivotal movement ofsaid rearwardly extending portion of said handle means in a downwarddirection.

5. The device set forth in claim 4, said handle means having portionsextending downwardly past the pivotal engagement thereof; and saidresilient spring means being secured to said structure in position toengage the downwardly extending portions of said handle means.

6. The device set forth in claim 4, and comprising in addition: hingemeans in said handle means adjacent but upwardly removed from theposition of the pivotal mounting thereof, said hinge means including arigid member positioned to engage stop means on said handle means toefiect a rigid connection of the portions of said handle means onopposite sides of said hinge means upon downward pressure on said handlemeans at points upwardly removed from the position of said hinge means,while providing free forward movement of the portion of said handlemeans upwardly of said hinge means with respect to said structure.

7. In a lawn mower provided with a transversely extending axle memberdefining an axis, driving wheels mounted on said axle member and adaptedfor rotation about said axis, a supporting structure mounted on saidaxle member for pivotal movement about said axis and having a portionextending forwardly thereof, cooperating fixed and rotatable cuttermeans mounted on said structure and extending transversely thereacrossat the forward end thereof, a handle structure which comprises: handlemeans pivotally mounted on said supporting structure adjacent saidcommon axis and having a portion extending upwardly and rearwardlytherefrom, and spring means mounted on said supporting structure at apoint removed from said axis resiliently engaging said handle means, andpositioned to bias the forward end of said supporting structure upwardlyabout said axis upon movement of the rearwardly extending portion ofsaid handle means in a downward direction, said spring means comprisinga U-shaped spring member having one end attached to said supportingstructure and the other end engaging said handle means.

JOHN A. WALlER.

